Butt expects Yousuf return

Salman Butt has revealed he expects Mohammad Yousuf to return to the side for the remaining two Tests against England.

By Joe Drabble

Last Updated: 10/08/10 10:10am

Pakistan captain Salman Butt has revealed he expects Mohammad Yousuf to return to the side for the remaining two Tests against England.

Yousuf, recalled to the squad ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston, played no part in the nine-wicket defeat in Birmingham after only arriving in the country 18 hours earlier.

The 35-year-old had spent the days leading up to the second Test practising in Pakistan's national academy in Lahore.

Butt said it would have been unfair to expose him to England's in-form bowling attack under such rushed circumstances.

Difficult

"The last 15 days there has been very heavy rain fall in Lahore and he didn't have a chance to practice," Butt told reporters.

"It would have been difficult to put him in and expect a lot from him."

Yousuf has scored 7,431 runs at an average of 53.07 in his 88 Test matches to date and his experience in the Pakistan upper-order is much-needed ahead of the third Test at The Oval.

On his last tour of England in 2006, Yousuf posted scores of 202 (Lord's), 192 (Headingley) and 128 (The Oval) as he tormented the home bowlers.

"We hope he gets runs for the side," Butt added ahead of the third Test, which starts on August 18. "We hope his experience proves invaluable for the team and I hope the youngsters can learn from him."

Butt also paid tribute to wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider, who marked his debut with 88 and shared an eighth-wicket stand of 115 with Saeed Ajmal to add respectability to the Edgbaston reverse.

Dire

"The way the boys played was really good and heartening and it didn't feel like both were playing their first games (Tests of the tour)."

Butt, who was the first wicket to fall as Pakistan were bowled out for 72 in the first-innings at Edgbaston, insisted he had no regrets about batting first in Birmingham.

The total was the tourists' lowest-ever against England, however Butt said his decision was influenced by his side's dire fielding display in the first Test at Trent Bridge.

"Fielding is something we need to work on," Butt said. "Maybe, we need to double the work we have done so far."